CANDICE BERGEN JOINS THE CAST OF ABC'S "BOSTON LEGAL"

Multiple Emmy and Golden Globe Award winner Candice Bergen ("Murphy Brown," "Miss Congeniality") is joining the cast of "Boston Legal," beginning with episode twelve. Bergen will play Crane, Poole & Schmidt founding partner Shirley Schmidt, who is coaxed back to the firm to help bring order to the chaotic office. Firebrand Schmidt proves to be a formidable adversary to Alan Shore and gets under the skin of Denny Crane, with whom she has a checkered history.

Alan Shore and Denny Crane, played by Emmy Award winners James Spader and William Shatner, lead a brigade of high-priced civil litigators in an upscale Boston law firm in a series focusing on the professional and personal lives of brilliant but often emotionally challenged attorneys. Fast-paced and darkly comedic, the series confronts social and moral issues and the pursuit of happiness and money, with varying degrees of priority. "Boston Legal" airs Sundays (10:00-11:00 p.m., ET) on the ABC Television Network.

"Boston Legal" stars James Spader as Alan Shore, Monica Potter as Lori Colson, Rhona Mitra as Tara Wilson, Lake Bell as Sally Heep, Mark Valley as Brad Chase, Rene Auberjonois as Paul Lewiston, with Candice Bergen as Shirley Schmidt and William Shatner as Denny Crane.

"Boston Legal" was created by David E. Kelley. Kelley, Bill D'Elia, Scott Kaufer and Jeff Rake are executive producers. The series is produced by David E. Kelley Productions in association with Twentieth Century Fox Television.